Lakshmi Diener

UP Speech & Debate Union To Attend National Tournament

March 3, 2014

The University of Portland Speech and Debate Union competed at the Earl Wells Memorial Speech and Debate Tournament at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore., over the weekend of February 22-23. Based on the team’s success, the UP Speech and Debate Union will attend the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 21-23. Students were awarded the following honors at the tournament in Corvallis:

Patrick Dolan (freshman, biochemistry) won a Bronze Medal for finishing in the top 6 in the Novice division of debate.
Lakshmi Diener (freshman, communication studies) won 3rd place in the Novice division of Persuasive Speaking.
Elizabeth Hartley (junior, biology) won 1st place in the Open division of Extemporaneous Speaking.
Lisa Holm (sophomore, communication studies) won a Bronze Medal for finishing in the top 6 in the Novice division of debate and won 5th best speaker in that division.
Katie Wilson (junior, political science) won 5th best speaker in the Open division of debate.
Karina Agbisit (freshman, environmental studies) won 4th place in the Novice division of Persuasive Speaking.

For more information contact co-directors Brian Simmons at 8025 (simmonsb@up.edu), or Bohn Lattin at 7352 (lattin@up.edu).

Speech & Debate Union Results

February 3, 2014

The University of Portland’s Speech and Debate Union competed last weekend at the Fred Scheller Memorial Speech and Debate Tournament at Pacific University, according to Brian Simmons, communication studies. Congratulations are due to the following students on their impressive accomplishments at that speech and debate tournament:

Patrick Dolan (FR, biochemistry) finished in the top 10 and earned the 7th Best Speaker overall in the Novice division.

Lakshmi Diener (FR, communication studies) finished in the top 10 and earned the 1st Best Speaker overall in the Novice division.

Chelsea Roberts (JR, communication studies) finished in the top 15 and earned the 11th Best Speaker overall in the Junior division.

John Russell (SR, civil engineering) finished in the top 4 and earned the 10th best Speaker overall in the Open division).

For more information contact Simmons at 8025 or simmonsb@up.edu.

Jacquie Van Hoomissen has been selected by the steering committee of the NSF ADVANCE Partnership project (Advancing STEM Careers by Empowering Network Development) to join the inter-institutional peer mentoring network of Administrators in the Northwest region. As a member of an Administrator Alliance, she will work with teams to evaluate how campus policies and practices impact professional advancement and leadership development of a diverse faculty in STEM fields. The goal of the program is to reduce institutional obstacles to advancement for women in STEM fields, create more equitable communities, and foster the retention and advancement of a diverse STEM faculty population.

Hannah Highlander, mathematics, edited An Introduction to Undergraduate Research in Computational and Mathematical Biology: From Disease Dynamics to Big Data (with Carrie Diaz Eaton, Alex Capaldi), New York, NY: Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-33645-5, February 2020.

Simon Aihiokhai, theology, was cited in The Tablet, December 9, 2019: “Africans Warn Numerical Growth Has To Be Matched By ‘Tools of Liberation.'” See the article here. He was also elected as a member of the Board of Directors for a three years term at the College Theology Society in March 2020.

Elizabeth Lee, institutional research, has been elected to the Association for Institutional Research’s Board of Directors as a member-at-large. AIR is an organization that seeks to empower higher education professionals to utilize data, analytics, and evidence to make decisions and take actions that benefit students. Elizabeth has cycled off as treasurer for the Pacific Northwest regional organization for institutional researchers in time to serve at the national level. Full election results are available at this link.

Cara Poor, Shiley School of Engineering, contributed “Evaluation of agricultural byproducts as amendments in bioretention systems for metal and nutrient removal” (with Ben Guidice, Jacob Bib, and student coauthor Camille Morgan) to Journal of Environmental Engineering, 146: 04020029, March 2020.

Hillary Merk, Jacqueline Waggoner, James Carroll, Heidi Parrett, and Claire Tooley, education, presented one paper at the annual conference of the Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) in Atlanta, GA, February 28-29, 2020. The paper was titled “From High School to Teaching: Developing a ‘Grow Your Own’: Pathway for A More Diverse Teaching Profession.”

Jacqueline Waggoner, Hillary Merk, Randy Hetherington, James Carroll, and Bruce Weitzel, education, presented at the annual conference of the Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) in Atlanta, GA, February 28-29, 2020. The paper was titled “Trauma Informed Practices and Teacher Preparation.”

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